THE BOOK OF POEMS IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY ... - TopReferat

Сладко после дождя теплая пахнет ночь.
Быстро месяц бежит в прорезях белых туч.
Где-то в сырой траве часто кричит дергач.
Вот, к лукавым губам губы впервые льнут.
Вот, коснувшись тебя, руки мои дрожат...
Минуло с той поры только шестнадцать лет.
The warm night smells sweet after the rain.
The moon rushes quickly in the openings of the white clouds.
Somewhere in the damp grass a corncrake cries repeatedly.
Look, for the first time lips cling to cunning lips.
Look, touching you, my hands tremble…
Since that time only sixteen years have passed.
In both "Брента" and "Сладко после дождя…" Khodasevich describes an event in the
past and relates it in time to the present with the phrase, "с той поры." In the case of
"Брента" he emphasizes the change that has taken place in the persona's life since the
time of his visit to the river—his rejection of romantic images for prosaic details. In
"Сладко после дождя…" he states how many years have passed since the time of the
romantic encounter described in the poem. This announcement of the gap in time,
however, comes as a surprise to the reader. The first five lines of the poem provide an
account of a first kiss in vivid detail and in the present tense. The first three lines set the
physical scene, and lines four and five describe the actual kiss. Lines four and five both
begin with the word "вот," suggesting the immediacy of the event as if the poetic persona
is pointing out the scene to the reader as it occurs. In the fifth line, however,
Khodasevich introduces first and second-person pronouns—the persona is suddenly
personally involved in the kiss. He is an active participant, not simply a spectator and
narrator. Apparently overcome with emotion, his hands shake. The kiss appears suspect,
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